A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
A piece of bone, found at Trondhjem in 1901, with the following runic inscription (about A.D. 1050) cut on it: I loved her as a maiden; I will not trouble Erlend’s detestable wife; better she should be a widow.
Words scored upon a bone,
Scratched in despair or rage —
Nine hundred years have gone;
Now, in another age,
They burn with passion on
A scholar’s tranquil page.
The scholar takes his pen
And turns the bone about,
And writes those words again.
Once more they seethe and shout
And through a human brain
Undying hate rings out.
“I loved her when a maid;
I loathe and love the wife
That warms another’s bed:
Let him beware his life!”
The scholar’s hand is stayed;
His pen becomes a knife
To grave in living bone
The fierce archaic cry.
He sits and reads his own
Dull sum of misery.
A thousand years have flown
Before that ink is dry.
And, in a foreign tongue,
A man, who is not he,
Reads and his heart is wrung
This ancient grief to see,
And thinks: When I am dung,
What bone shall speak for me?
A few random poems:
- My Heart Screams by Roberto Cocina
- On The Victory Obtained By Blake Over the Spaniards, In The Bay Of Scanctacruze, In The Island Of teneriff.1657 poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- The Cremona Violin poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Civil War Songs
- Four Days In Vermont by Robert Creeley
- The Talking Oak poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Watching the Bird Watcher by Richard Schiffman
- Identity poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Daddy, daddy, I can’t go to school by Raj Arumugam
- Zummer Evenèn Dance by William Barnes
- Complaint Of A Poet Manqué poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- epitaph_for_our_children.html
- Sonnet 129: Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame by William Shakespeare
- On A Drop Of Dew poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- To The Honourable T. H. Esq; On the Death Of His Daughter by Phillis Wheatley
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Олег Бундур – Я несу домой морошку
- Олег Бундур – Я не плачу
- Олег Бундур – Я болею
- Олег Бундур – Хорошее слово
- Олег Бундур – Всё живёт
- Олег Бундур – Время со Светой
- Олег Бундур – Вращения
- Олег Бундур – Вовка дразнит Свету
- Олег Бундур – Вопросы
- Олег Бундур – Вместо нас
- Олег Бундур – Вид с задней парты
- Олег Бундур – Весна
- Олег Бундур – Вечером
- Олег Бундур – В зоологическом музее
- Олег Бундур – В саду
- Олег Бундур – В огороде
- Олег Бундур – В гостях на великом
- Олег Бундур – В глухом лесу
- Олег Бундур – Ужин
- Олег Бундур – Утром
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.